Braiding-machine.



s. w. WARDWELL.

BBAIDING MACHINE.-

APPLIOATION FILED AUG.3, 1910.

Patented June 10, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. W. WARDWELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3, 1910.

1,064,407. Patented June 10,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Win/asses.-

I, r I W M 6 flrrap/vns S. W. WARDWELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3, 1910.

1,064,407. Patented June 10,1913.

6 SHEBTS-SHEET 3.

S. W. WARDWELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPT-IOATION FILED AUG.3, 1910.

Patented June 10, 1913.

' 6 SHEETSSEBET 4:.

mmxeaszs:

5/45. 03/www 73m Ava :09.-

S. W. WARDWELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3, 1910.

PatentedJune 10, 1913.

6 BHEETSSHEET 5.

Array/nays- [Mm/taste:

S. W. WARDWELL.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3, 191.0.

Patented June 10, 1913.

QSHEETB-SHEET 6.

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hrs/V70 v 52% W m SIMON w. WARDWELL, or rnovmnncn, anonn ISLAND.

Exam ner-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June in, 1913.

Application filed August 3, 1910. Serial No. 575,297.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it knownthat .I, SI ON W. WARDWELL, a, citizen of the United States, residing'at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Braiding-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to braiding machines and particularly to the complete, organized apparatus comprising the supply stand, feeding and take-up mechanism, and winding-on devices.

The object of my improvement is to provide a machine so organized and arranged as to compact the .whole apparatus, with its supply and take-up reels and other auxilia'ry devices, into a minimum space, while at the same time, providing for greater convenie'nce in applying and removing the reels, and otherwise operating the machine.

My invention further contemplates various improvements in the manner of supporting the reels and controlling the wind-- ing on of the material and also in the arrangement and operation of the feeding and take-up mechanism.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of the complete machine, showing the supply and takeup reels applied theretoin operative relation to the feeding and winding-on devices; Fig. 2, a rear elevation illustrating the arrangement of the feeding and take-up mechanism; .Fig. 3, a plan viewof the machine frame or stand and its correlated parts; Fig. 4, an enlarged view of the feeding mechanism; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail of the same; Fig. 6, an enlarged view of the winding-on mechanism; Fig; 7, an enlarged detail of the same; Fig. 8, an enlarged detail view of the friction driving-device forthe take-up reel; Fig. 9, an enlarged side elevation of the take-up reel bearing bracket.

My invention is shownas particularly adapted for ,use in braiding tubular fabriccovering around electrical wire for insulat ing purposes and the machine is arranged to deliver the wire from the supply reel. and feed. it to the braiding mechanism; and after the braid has been applied thereto to wind the product on toa take-up reel in proper condition to be freely unwound for (lellvery to other processes.

present invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the machine comprises a main frame or table A which serves as a stand for supporting the supply and take-11p reels C and D, and on which is mounted the braiding mechanism B. The

pending application, Serial N 0. 493,716, filed May 3rd, 1909, but I have not here shown the device in detail as the braiding mechanism does not form the subject matter of the In general the braidfabricating mechanism comprises upper and lower tiers of yarn supplies Z2 and 6 arranged to revolve in opposite directions about a common axis; with the yarns y from the lower supplies passing over and under the yarns y from the upper supplies. The yarns y andy converge at the braiding point 02 and intermesh in atubular fabric f surrounding and covering the wire core 0 which is fed up through the center of the machine. Usually, the core is a copper wire covered with a coating of rubber, or other insulating material, and is delivered to the machine on large wooden spools or reels, as illustrated by C. To provide for greater convenience in applying the reel to deliver its supply to the machine, I have devised a novel arrangement for supporting it on the frame A which only requires that the reel be rolled into position, thus saving the carrying and lifting of the reels. On the inner sides of the legs a,@ of the stand A are shelving ribs or flanges a, a, inclined toward the floor and leading upward into socketed bearings a 0. see Figs. 1 and 3.

The reel C has an axial bore and through this is inserted a bearing rod 1" of the proper length to extend between the bearings a (1 To apply the reel to the machine it is only necessary to roll it along thefloor between the legs a, a of the stand A and the ends of the 'rod 7* will ride up on the flanges a, a,

thereby lifting the reel off the floor and finally seating the rod in the bearings 01?, a Toprevent accidental displacement of the reel I make use ofthe retaining pins r, 1",

which. are insertedin holes at the front of the bearings 03, a In Fig. l the dot-anddash lines represent the reel resting on the floor with its bearing rod 1' engaging the flanges a, a; and the full lines show the reel after the rod has rolled up the inclines and been seated in its bearings. In this lata: lid

ter position the reel is supported on the rod 1" free to rotate to deliver the core wire 0.

The core is unwound from its reel, fed through the machine, and the finished product taken up by a feeding and take-up device now described: The machine 13 is mounted on the stand A by means of a front bracket E and two rear brackets G, G, see Figs. 1 and 2. The brackets G, G extend upward in the curved arms 9, g which have bearings g, g at their upper ends for supporting a cross-shaft t. On the shaft t is mounted a feedor take-up wheel T having a grooved periphery to receive the material f, and carrying a gear-wheel t preferably formed integral therewith. Below the shaft t is a second cross-shaft u carrying a pinion u' which meshes with the gear 25. The shaft u is also supported in bearings in the arms 9, g and at one end carries a gear M which meshes with a gear '0. The gear 12 rotates on a stud V and is connected with a sprocket-wheel '0 which is driven through chain connections leading from the main driving shaft of the machine. These are arranged as follows: The machine is driven from a driving-pulley H mounted on a countershaft h adapted to rotate in bearings h, h secured to the legs a, a of the stand A, see Figs. 1 and 2. The shaft h carries a pulley H which is belted to a smaller pulley J. The pulley J is mounted on the driving-shaft j,- which is the main shaft for the machine B, and is connected therewith by manually operated clutch means not here shown or described.

Referring to Fig. l, the driving-shaft j is formed with gear teeth 7" which mesh with the teeth of a gear k mounted on a .stud 7a which also carries a sprocket 7: The gear 70 is covered and protected by a casing K bolted to the frame of the machine and the sprocket k is located outside of this housing and connected to a sprocket Z by the chain Z. The sprocket Z is an idler rotating on the stud L and connected to rotate two smaller sprockets m and n, see Fig. 5. The stud L is adjustable in a slotted extension 9 on the arm 9, to take up slack in the chain Z, and it also serves as a bearing for an adjustable arm 0 which supports the stud V and sprocket e at its upper end.

As shown in Fig. 5, the stud L has an enlarged portion Z arranged with its. shoulder abutting the side of the extension 9 The portion l extends through the slot 9 and a nut Z screwed up against the washer Z serves to bind the stud in, its adjusted position on the extension 9 The arm O has a pivotal bearing on the enlarged portion Z of the stud L, and extending outward beyond this bearing is a reduced portion Z on which rotate the sprockets Z, m and n. Preferably the hub of the sprocket Z is formed with the keys or splines Z, Z which fit corresponding slots or keyways inthe jects a stud 0, fast in the arm 9 and provided with a nut 0 and washer 0, see Fig. 4. At the top of the arms 0 is a sliding extension O which carries the bearing for the stud V and serves to adjust the distance between the sprockets '22 and m to take up slack in the chain c which connects the latter. The extension 0 is shown as secured to the arm 0 by a bolt 0 projecting from the arm through a slot 0 and provided with the nut 0. A pin 0 also projects from the arm 0 through a second slot 0 and serves to maintain the extension 0' in line with the arm 0 while allowing it to slide longitudinally thereon. The gear 2) is connected rotatively to the sprocket o by pins '0 '0 fast in a collar a) and projecting through holes in the gear and sprocket. The gear to? which meshes with the gear 42 is a. change gear and can be disconnected from the shaft u and replaced with one of different size to alter the ratio of the gearing and change the speed of retation of the wheel T. This use of changegears is necessary to alter the linear rate of feed of the wire passing through the ma-. chine, and adjustments are made with respect to the size of the yarn being braided or according to whether a close or open fabric is to be produced. WVith a relatively fast rate of take-up or feed the strands will be braided. with a more open mesh; and, vice versa, with a slow feed a closer mesh will be produced. Figs. 1 and 4 show a relatively small gear a in mesh with the gear '0 to give a comparatively fast speed of rotation to the take-up wheel T. When a slower speed of take-up is desired a larger gear is substituted for the gear n For most variations in the feeding speed of the wheel T the changing of the one gear u is all that is necessary; but if it is required to extend the range of adjustment a smaller gear can be substituted for the gear '0 and proportionally larger gears used in place of the gear 14 To adjust the axial distance between the two gears a and o for variations in their diameters it is only necessary to release the nut 0 on the stud o and swing the arm 0 on its pivot L. After this adjustment has been made the nut- 0 is tightened against the arm to hold it in position. As before stated, the extension 0' is adjustable longitudinally of the arm 0 to extend the distance between the sprockets o and m and take up the slack of the chain '0 This is accomplished by loosening the nut 0 and must be accompanied by a corresponding adjustment of the arm 0 on its pivot L to preserve the proper distance between the axes of the gears n and 'v.

The product from the machine is carried up to the Wheel T, as shown in Fig. 1, and preferably one or more turns is taken around the periphery of the wheel to insure j a binding contact, see Fig. 2. From the' wheel T the material is led down over a guiding roll or pulley P and wound on to The reel D is supported in bearings on the legs a, a of the stand A and is rotated by a friction driving-device that accommodates its speed to; the delivery of the material, and in accord-- ance with the varying diameter of the winding surface which increases with each layer the barrel of the reelD.

of material.

see Fig. 3, and provided with'projecting studs s s ject into suitable holes 2, z, and serve as means of apin a. slide on the shaft and its outer rim engages the face of the gear 8*. A helical spring 8 surrounds the shaft S between the disk s and nut s and serves to force the disk into driving contact with the gear 8 The nut s can be adjusted to vary the tension of the spring .9 and the check-nut s is set up against it to render the adjustment permanent.

Referring to Fig. 6, the gear 8 is driven by a gear w rotated by a sprocket w which is connected to the sprocket n by a chain 10 Preferably the gear w is fast on a stud Q03 which rotates in a bearing w and carries the sprocket to at its opposite end, seeFig.

3. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the bearing 10 is mounted on a bracket to which is adjustable on an extension '10 of the bracket d totake up the slack in the chain 202. The extension w curves up from the bracket 03 and is provided with an arcual slot w formed concentric with the gear .9 Bolts 105 extending from the bracket 'w pass The end of the shaft fits the; axial bore in the reel and the studs 8 pro-.

through the slot w and the bracket. is clamped against the extension 10 by means of the nuts 10 By loosening the nuts w the bracket e0 can be slid along the extension 10 to alter the distance between the axes of the sprockets w and 71. without disturbing the operative relation of the gears 10 and 8.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 9, thebracket which supports the other end of the reel D is arranged and operated as follows: Extending inwardly from the leg a are two lugs a and a having hinge pins 6 e as shown particularly in Fig. 9. The bracket 6 has hinge lugs e 6 provided with holes to receive these pins 6 and at its outer end is a bearing stud or mandrel e which is adapted to enter the axial bore of the reel f D. The bracket e swings outward, as shown As shown in Fig. 3, the reel D is supported on brackets (Z and e extending from thei legs a, a of the frame A. The bracket d is; stationary, and the bracket 6 hinged to 5 allow it to swing away when the reel is be- 5 ing put into place or removed from the mai chine. The bracket d has a bearing (Z for the shaft S, which latter serves as a man-' drel for the reel D. On the inner .end of the shaft is a flange 8, secured by the pin 8, f

by dotted lines in Fig. 3, to permit the removal. of the reel and is held in operative position by a locking-lever 6' 6 The lever is pivoted on the screw e and has its inner end notched at e to engage the corner ofthe leg a. A spring a having its end driven into a slot e in the lever c has two prongs bearing on the side of the bracket 6, and tends to carry the inner end of the lever away from the bracket. By pulling out on the outer end or handle of the lever e the notched end e is released from the leg a and the bracket e can then be swung on its hinges to withdraw the stud e from the bore of the reel 1). The reel can then be removed from the opposite bearing S. A lug e" ,at,=the bottom of the bracket 6 bears on a machined surface a on a shelf an and provides a supporting bearing to adapt the bracket 6 to swing evenly on its hinges.

For guiding the material on to the reel D so that it will be wound evenly and precisely in layers of close coils, I provide a guiding pulley P interposed between the take-up-wheel T and reel D. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the pulley P is mounted on the end of an arm p pivoted at p on the top of the stand A. The outer end of the arm p has a shoe p bearing on a bail or guide 71 and a weight 79 suspended from the arm acts to maintain a frictional bearing to retard the movement of the arm. As the material f leads over the pulley P and winds on to the barrel of the reel D the pulley will move in an arc, back and forth as influenced by the laying of the coils between the flanges or heads of the reel. The retarded movement of the pulley tends to direct the material to lay each coil closely adjacent the previously wound coil, so that the winding is regular and compact and the reels will debeen made for automatically controlling the winding on of the material and the constant attention of the operator is necessary to prevent the windin from being done in a haphazard manner. ilvcn with painstaking efiort on the part of the attendant the coils will often be laid loosely and irregularly and when more material is wound on the coils will fall in between previously laid coils and become so tangled and confused that it is difficult to get the material off in unwinding. The constriction of the outer coils wound across the openl spaced inner ones will bruise the fabric an bend the wire and frequently causes kinks which cannot be straightened out. This results in damage to the material and often the covering has to be patched and repaired. Sometimes the wire .is so severely damaged that it has to be discarded or sold as seconds. With my improved winding device the covered wire is wound on to the reel in smooth layers of tight, uniformly disposed coils without the need of attention on the part of the operator and without danger of damaging the covering and when filled the reel,will deliver the material .without restriction in applying it to other processes.

At the front of the machine I have shown a box-like shelf A mounted on the brackets a, a extending from the legs a, w. This serves as a convenient tray for holding wrenches or other tools and articles used in adjusting and operating the machine.

It will be appreciated that my new apparatus provides for greater ease and convenience in attending and operating the machine. The heavy supply reels, do not have to be lifted off the floor but are simply rolled into position under the stand A and the supporting rod 1" seats itself automatically in its bearings to allow the core material to be unwound. The product is led up over the take-up wheel T and the feed can be adjusted with ease and despatch by the substitution of change gears. The covered wire is fed to the receiving reel D and guided on to the barrel so that it is wound regularly and compactly in condi-- tion to be applied to other processes with an unhampered delivery. The empty reel D can be easily lifted on to its bearing supports and when filled is as readily removed by simply swinging the bracket 0 outward and letting the reel drop-to-the floor.

Heretofore the supply reels have generally been suspended above the machine to economize space and this practice required the use of overhead gear and tackle to raise them into position and the employment of men attendants to handle the heavy reels. \Vith. my new arrangement the girl attendant usually employed to operate the braider can easily handle the reels and apply them to and remove them from the machine. Furthermore, the danger of the reels falling and causing damage to machine and injury to operator is removed and therefore its operation is rendered much safer.

The arrangement for driving the take-up and Wind-on mechanism through chain-andsprocket connections gives a positive, even feed .while eliminating the noise and wear incident to gear-driven devices. Besides these features it is also noted that the mechanism of the machine and its auxiliary devices are compacted within a minimum space, thereby economizing room in the mill.

Various modifications might be made in the arrangement ofmy apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Therefore, without limiting myself to the precise construction shown and described, what I claim is 1. In a braiding machine, the combination with the braiding mechanism B, of a driving-shaft therefor, an idler sprocket Z, gear and chain connections for rotating said sprocket from the driving-shaft, sprockets I m and n rotated with the sprocket Z, a takeup wheel T, gear connections for rotating said wheel, a sprocket o for driving the gears, a chain 1: connecting said sprocket with the sprocket m, a take-up reel 1) for receiving the material from the take-up wheel, friction devices for driving said reel, a sprocket 10 connected to drive said devices, and a chain 10 connecting the sprocket to with the sprocket n.

2. In a braiding machine, the combination with the driving-shaft j, of a sprocket m driven from said shaft, a take-up wheel T for feeding the material through the ma- .chine, a gear a connected to rotate said wheel, a gear 4) engaging the gear if, a sprocket v connected with the gear UP, a chain connecting said sprocket to the sprocket m, and a bearing for the gear 0 and sprocket 1/ adapted to be adjusted toward and away from the axis ofthe gear a and in an arcual direction about the axis of the sprocket m.

3. In a take-up mechanism for braiding machines, the combination with a sprocket m, of an arm 0 mounted to swing on the axis of said sprocket, a second sprocket '22 mounted on said arm to be adjusted toward and away fro-m the sprocket m, a chain '0 connecting said sprockets, a take-up wheel T, a gear a connected to rotate said wheel, and a gear 1) connected tothe sprocket 11 and adapted to be meshed with the gear a 4:. In a take-up mechanism for braiding machines, the combination with the take-up wheel T,"of a gear a connected to drive said wheel, a sprocket m, an arm 0 mounted to swing on the axis of the sprocket m, an extension O on said arm 0 adjustable longitudinally of the latter, ast-ud V on said extension, a sprocket 1) on said stud, a chain o connecting the sprockets m and o, a gear mounted on the stud V and connected to be driven by the sprocket 11 means to adjust the extension 0 to vary the distance between the sprockets 'v" and m, and means to adjust the arm 0 about the axis of the sprocket m to bring the gear "a: in mesh withthe gear u -5. In a take-up mechanism for braiding machines, the combination with the upright arms g, of a cross shaft t mounted in bearings on said arms, a take-up wheel T on said shaft formed with a gear t, a second .cross shaft u mounted in bearings on the arms 9, a gear uon the shaft engaging the gear (6, a gear 11 on said shaft 14, a sprocket m rotatable on a bearingon one of the arms g, anarm 0 adjustable about the axis of the sprocket m, means to secure the arm 0 against the arm g, an extension 0' adjustable longitudinally on the arm 0, a stud V on said extension, a sprocket v. on said stud, a chain '0 connecting, the sprockets 'v and m, a gear v mounted on the stud V to engage the gear u by adjustment of the arm 0, and

tion with the braiding mechanism B, of the organized apparatus comprising a stand A on which the mechanism B is mounted, a supply reel C rotatably mounted on the stand below the braiding mechanism, a takeup wheel T above. the braiding mechanism, means to rotate said wheel to feed the material through the machine, a take-up reel D mounted on the stand A, means to rotate the reel D to wind on the material according to its rate of delivery, and means interme diate the wheelT and reel D to guide the material to wind it inlayers of close coils.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIMON W. WARDWELL. Witnesses: ARTHUR A. ABMINGTON, GRACE W. BROWN. 

